Second Chances
by Kohaku no Hime
Summary: Noa returns to Domino High School and encounters Yugi and his friends...but are they willing to forgive for past mistakes?


_Well, hello._

_I figured it was time I went through some of my older stories and revised them a bit; "Second Chances," happens to be the first one. _

_My disclaimer is back on my profile, mainly because I got tired of typing it out._

_Enjoy._

* * *

Domino High School.

A place that was full of average, ordinary teenagers living their boring mundane lives without a care in the world. It was also full of evil, twisted students and teachers that were waiting to destroy you if you looked cross eyed at them or crossed their path.

This was the last place on earth that Noa Kaiba wanted to be.

Noa looked up at his older brother, anxiety reflecting in his sapphire eyes. "Seto, do I really have to go to school? I don't need to. Really, it'll waste your time and money," he added persuasively, knowing full and well that Seto Kaiba was a person who did not believe in either of those things.

The tall teen stared down at Noa, something of amusement flickering in his cobalt eyes. Noa looked nearly the same as his older brother, although he had two-toned aqua hair as opposed to his brother's milk chocolate hair. Seto had voiced a doubt on the topic of whether or not Noa's hair had always been green or if he had dyed it.

Contrary to popular belief, that was its natural color.

"Noa, that trick is not going to work on me, so don't try appealing to me that way. We have discussed this since last night and you know what the answer is," he said calmly, a small humorless smile playing on his lips. He winced abruptly and held his one good arm to his side.

"Seto, you okay?" asked Noa concernedly, moving to his older brother's side. He checked his brother's bandages. The doctor had been stubborn enough by refusing to let Seto put a shirt on his bandaged torso, but that refusal allowed Noa to check the bandages for signs of blood showing through. To his relief, there weren't any.

It had been nearly two weeks since the incident at the laboratory, and Seto was still recovering from the injuries that he had received while he had been there. The bandages covering his ribcage and the cast on arm were a silent testimony of what had happened. Despite the bandages, however, Seto still looked as formidable as ever.

With a tired sigh, he looked down at Noa and gently pushed him away. "Noa, I'm fine. If anything goes wrong, I can always sue the doctor."

"Yeah, Seto, because everyone knows how effective that is."

"I own my own infirmary, Noa. I can at least fire the doctor."

Noa decided to give up on trying to understand his brother's logic and decided to appeal one last time for his freedom. "Seto, why doesn't Mokuba go to school?"

"He does," replied Seto calmly, seemingly glad that they had returned to the subject of school.

"Okay then, explain Battle City," challenged Noa, smirking as Seto looked at him.

"Mokuba's vice president of Kaiba Corporation and it was summer break."

"What about that incident with the Seal of Orichalcos and the Grand Prix at KaibaLand?"

"...Noa, how do you know about that?" asked Seto slowly, raising an eyebrow in interest.

"Um...lucky guess?"

"Noa..."

"Okay, okay, I was watching you guys for a little while."

"_Noa_."

"Okay, since the cyber world was deleted."

"...Either way, Mokuba is in school now, so stop trying to get out of going, Noa," replied Seto simply, walking forward into the school building.

Noa followed, desperately thinking of some way to get out of going to school. It suddenly hit him outside the principal's office (which by the way was on the ground floor of the building. Weird).

"Seto, I can't go to school! I'm twenty years old, I need to be in _college_!" cried Noa triumphantly, planting his feet and putting his hands on his hips. _Let's see how you get out of this one, Seto._

Seto didn't even blink. "No, you're thinking in the wrong sense."

"Huh?"

"Your _mind_ is twenty years old, but your physical body is only nine years old."

"It's fifteen. I'm fifteen!" cried Noa indignantly, glaring at Seto.

This time, Seto really did blink. "Huh, is that so? Care to explain how that works?"

"...I don't want to go back to fourth grade?" asked Noa sheepishly, knowing that this attempt had failed.

"Noa, you're going to school and that's final. Although, I don't think it's necessary for you to return to the fourth grade," replied Seto, smiling another humorless smile.

"Can't you home school me?"

"No. I have a company to run."

"Hire private tutors?"

"Again, no. Too annoying and bossy."

"Let me educate myself?"

"No, and if you keep this up I'll send you to a prep school until you turn twenty physically."

Noa swore softly under his breath.

"Language, Noa."

* * *

"Alright, Mr. Kaiba, if that's all there is to discuss, I think that Noa can go to his first class now," said the principal cheerily as he stood up after the meeting had ended.

Seto nodded briefly, then stood up and walked out of the room. Noa longed to call out to Seto and plead with him to stay a little longer. He knew, however, that the aforementioned action would make him look ridiculous and would humiliate his brother.

Instead, he looked up at the principal, masking his worried look with a curious one.

At least, he hoped it was a curious look.

"What's my first class, sir?" he asked politely.

The principal (Noa couldn't remember if his name was Mr. Moore or Mr. Moss) beamed at him. "Well, according to your schedule, your first class is ending now and you will be currently heading to Algebra II."

Noa repressed the sigh he knew was coming. He should be in calculus right now. "...Mr. Kaiba?"

"Huh?" Noa had inadvertently zoned out, thereby blocking out the conversation.

"I said that you should be heading to room 105 upstairs."

Noa stiffened. _Upstairs...?_

"Noa?"

"...Okay, I'll head there now," said Noa, plastering a grin on his face as he left the room. Once out of site of the office, however, he slumped against the wall and felt despair hit him hard.

Noa had required physical therapy after his sojourn in the cyber world; he could walk now without crutches or support. However, there were still a few things he could not do yet, like was running or jumping.

Another one was climbing the stairs.

Seto had put Noa on the ground floor of their mansion to avoid any accidents, and he made Noa take the elevator whenever it was manageable. But now, here at school, he had no elevator; Noa had to walk up the stairs without falling. He almost laughed aloud.

"That'll take a miracle. I wonder if Seto remembers that there are stairs here," he muttered as he got up and headed for the stairs. After hesitating for a moment, he ascended the first step.

Pain lanced through his legs, and Noa let his breath out in a hiss. _I can do this. Mind over matter. I could do this all day long in the cyber world, for God's sake! _Noa thought irritably, legs wobbling.

**_Ahh, but you're not in the cyber world anymore._**

Noa ignored the voice and took another step up. He was halfway there...his legs were throbbing now, pain washing gradually to his hips. He cursed the fact that Seto had sent him to school and that the school did not have an elevator or an escalator or—

"No!"

Noa had misstepped and that step had tipped him backwards. Trying hard not to panic, Noa reached for the railing; his fingers actually brushed against the metal bar before he toppled backwards.

He felt himself falling through the air, already knowing he was going to hit the floor and bracing himself for the impact he knew would come. Noa closed his eyes, hoping that whatever pain befell him would not be too bad.

The impact never came.

Someone had caught him in midfall.

_Who...?_

Noa opened his eyes...and found that he was sitting on top of someone.

"Are you alright?!" asked Noa in alarm looking at the person acting as a pillow. The other boy looked up at him; amethyst eyes met sapphire ones and Noa gasped as sudden realization hit him hard. He had seen eyes like these back in the cyber world, and they had belonged to only one person.

He was sitting on top of Yugi Mutou.

"Yeah, I'm fine...Noa?" Yugi stared up at him, a surprised look in his eyes.

Noa hastily scrambled to his feet; the tri-colored haired teen stayed where he was, too stunned to move. Noa noticed that although Yugi seemed to not be (physically) any different, he seemed to have changed; it was if he had grown up in some way, though Noa could not yet determine how. Yugi stood up and smiled.

"Noa! You're alive! And not in a computer this time! This is great!" he cried.

Noa felt a little awkward and wondered if he could somehow escape. The last time he'd seen Yugi had been back in the cyber world...and the experience had not been all fun and games. In fact, he had tried to kill Yugi and his friends along with Seto. So why was Yugi so warm and nice to him?

As if reading his mind, Yugi said simply, "You're here, which means that Kaiba helped you out. And if he of all people is willing to give you a chance, then so am I, Noa."

Noa let out a sigh of relief. "Good. So, Yugi, how's it...going...?" Noa trailed off as he spotted the rest of Yugi's friends. _Seto, you—!. You did this on purpose, didn't you? I'll get you for this..._

"Yugi what happened?" asked a short-haired brunette girl, spotting the shorter boy on the ground and apparently not noticing Noa just yet.

Behind her, Noa could see the rest of the gang: the blonde teen, the monkey boy, the dude with the dice, and a white haired boy Noa hadn't seen before. Their names eluded Noa at the moment.

"I'm fine, Anzu. Hey, did you see who's back yet?" replied Yugi easily, getting up off the floor and gesturing towards Noa.

A long silence followed, everyone staring at Noa and Noa staring at them.

It was the blonde teen who spoke first. "Well, Noa...erm...been awhile, hasn't it?" he asked uneasily, but Noa spotted the friendly look in his hazel eyes. Noa knew his name wasn't "Blonde Idiot", but he couldn't remember—

Jounouchi.

That was his name; Noa remembered it now, because Seto had kept calling him, "Mutt" in the cyber world and Jounouchi had repeatedly snapped, "You arrogant rich punk, I have a name! It's Jounouchi, not Mutt, JOUNOUCHI!"

The bell rang. "Aw man, we have a history test today!" cried Jounouchi, running towards a classroom. The others followed, Yugi being the last.

"See you in class, Noa! Maybe after school you can come with us to the Turtle Game Shop, okay?" he called over his shoulder as he ran after Jounouchi and the others.

_That must be where Yugi lives. Seto did mention something about Yugi's grandfather running a store of some kind..._

Noa made to follow them but found that Monkey Boy had cut him off. He felt a perplexed frown cross his features and he asked, "Can I help with something?"

"I had half-hoped you had died, Noa," said the teen coldly, ignoring Noa's question entirely. His hazel eyes reminded Noa of hard granite; not friendly at all.

Great.

"Nope, I am alive and well. How are you doing?" asked Noa as calmly as he could. The other teen remained unsmiling, his eyes filled with hatred.

Noa felt somewhat like a prisoner being convicted to the electric chair.

The brown haired teen narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What are you doing here anyway? Cyber world too stuffy for you?" he asked.

Noa took a steadying breath and spoke, suddenly remembering what the teenager's name was. "You're Honda, right? I deserve this treatment. I'm sorry I turned you into a monkey; I was a bit…well…" Noa couldn't put into words what he had been.

Unfortunately, Honda seemed to know exactly what he was.

"You were a brat, Noa. You should have stayed in the cyber world where people were_ programmed_ to like you and not even try to come here. Speaking of which, how did you get here? Did you brainwash Kaiba into helping you escape?" he spat, the hazel eyes narrowing even further.

The words were like knives cutting into Noa's heart, remorseless, painful, full of malice. Noa felt like a moving truck had hit him once again.

And the funny thing was that he could actually feel the pain all over again.

Noa heard himself say in a protesting tone, "No, that's not—!"

"Then you must have bribed him or blackmailed him. What, did you threaten Mokuba again?"

Noa couldn't speak; his throat had tightened with withheld sobs. He might have been twenty years old mentally, but he was still a child. And those words hurt.

"Well? Noa, are you even going to reply?"

The dam burst.

"…Yeah, I know. I'm a spoiled brat. I don't really deserve this second chance—not now, probably not ever. But right now, you're only going to hear me say what you want to, not what the honest to God truth is."

Hot tears were building up in Noa's eyes, but he held them captive. He was not going to cry in front of his antagonist. He had to retain his pride, for after all, he was Seto Kaiba's brother.

And he had a reputation to uphold.

"It was bad enough that I was trapped in a computer for six years. It was worse when my father abandoned me for three of those years. It was even more terrible when I lost all sense of humanity and became a machine.

"But when Seto actually helped me escape that prison…when he actually gave me a second chance—when I had no right to ask it from _him_, of all people—I thought that I could at least start over."

Noa choked on the last sentence, overcome by the sobs in his throat; Honda had a stunned look on his face. Noa rubbed his eyes fiercely to hide the scalding tears before looking back at the other teen. He said in a quiet, pain-filled voice:

"You're judging me before you even know me. You're prejudiced against me, and I can't compete with convictions already made, so there's no point in staying here. Goodbye, Honda."

Noa turned, found the exit with his eyes, and did something his doctors had told him not to.

He ran.

* * *

"Mr. Kaiba? Your brother's here," came Ms. Tachibana's voice over the intercom.

Seto looked up from the report he was composing and frowned. An annoyed look was evident on the CEO's face; the report was incredibly important and needed to get done. To top things off, another killer headache had come and was proceeding to slowly kill his head.

He looked at the clock. 10:05 a.m.

Mokuba wasn't supposed to come here during school hours and he knew that; although his school allowed him to leave on Kaiba Corporation business, Seto insisted on keeping his brother in school. So why on earth was he coming here now…?

Oh.

"Send him in," he said curtly, restraining the sudden concern that was rising in him.

He kept forgetting that he now had a second brother to look after.

The door opened. "Noa, why are you here? You're supposed to be at—"

Seto froze. He had just spotted his stepbrother's face, and all thoughts of his report were wiped from his mind. His head throbbed, but he ignored it and stared at Noa.

Noa's face was flushed and pale, all at once. His blue eyes were rimmed in red, full of tears. His breath came in ragged sobs and his legs were trembling. He also was sweating.

_Did he run here? And he's crying again...that's twice in two weeks. What on earth could have caused this breakdown?_ Noa was probably still out of sorts, which was why he was so emotional at the moment; the mint-haired boy probably hated the fact that his emotions could overwhelm his senses after six years of not feeling anything.

"Seto..." That was all Noa said before he sank to the floor and burst into tears.

Seto paused only for a fraction of a second. He stood up from where he had been seated, moved around his desk to where Noa was, and scooped up his smaller brother, carrying him to the sofa conveniently located in the office.

He sat down with Noa still in his arms, and then shifted the boy next to him on the sofa asking, "What happened?"

The mint-haired boy looked up at Seto, a stray tear falling down his cheek. "Wh-why d-didn't you t-tell—l !"

"Noa, I can't understand what you're saying. Calm down and take a big breath," said Seto quietly.

His stepbrother looked down at his hands and after a brief pause took a shuddering, hiccupped breath.

"Now hold it for five seconds, then release it," Seto instructed gently. The brunette used this trick with Mokuba whenever he broke down; it usually worked for some odd reason or another.

Noa complied, his breathing somewhat shaky but steady. Once again, the technique had done its job.

"Tell me what's wrong. What happened, Noa?" asked Seto, gently but firmly tilting Noa's chin up so that the younger boy was looking at him.

"...Why didn't you tell me that Yugi and his friends were at the school?" asked Noa in a voice barely above a whisper, eyes downcast. "Why?"

Seto suddenly realized what had happened. "Noa, who said it?" he asked heavily.

"Honda, I think. I don't remember any of their names except Jounouchi, Anzu, and Yugi. They were friendly."

Seto looked at Noa in silence, slight annoyance flickering through him. The mutt, the friendship mutant, and the porcupine head…at least they hadn't rejected Noa.

He heard Noa's voice start again and he listened as he explained how they had met. Seto felt a pang of annoyance at himself for forgetting that there had been stairs at the school; he was lucky that Noa hadn't been hurt.

"Yugi and Jounouchi are going to give me a second chance, Anzu and...and...what was the name of the other guy? The guy with the dice fetish?" asked Noa, a bemused expression on his face.

Seto repressed a grin. "Otogi."

"And the white haired boy?"

"Ryou."

Noa nodded. "They were thinking about it, although I've never seen Ryou before. Honda...was openly hostile. He made no secret that he didn't like me."

Noa looked like he was going to cry again; Seto decided to figure out how bad the damage was. "Noa, what did Honda say to you?"

Noa looked away. "...He thought I had blackmailed you, brainwashed you, even threatened Mokuba, just to get out of the cyber world. And he thought that I should have stayed with, 'people that were programmed to like me,'" he said bitterly.

A wave of anger coursed through Seto. So it had come to this; he had known that this would happen. He didn't think it would happen so soon, but he had known that one of Yugi's friends would lash out at Noa.

And now his stepbrother was in shambles, heartbroken and an emotional wreck. Anger at both himself and Honda coursed through him again. For a long moment the two of them sat there, Noa sniffling once in awhile. At length Seto spoke. "Noa?"

The younger boy looked up.

"Noa, listen to me. I should have seen this coming; it's my fault that this whole little episode happened. But running from Yugi's friends would have yielded the same result, if not worse. Once more…I don't regret my decision to let you stay with us."

Noa looked up at Seto, eyes brimming in tears. "You...don't?"

"You are my brother, just like Mokuba. Both of you are special to me and if need be, I will step in and help you. Don't forget that," stated Seto calmly.

Noa wiped his tears away with his sleeve and gave a shaky smile. "Seto?"

"Hm?"

"...I ran all the way here."

Seto looked down in surprise. _Thought so._ "You did? How did that go?"

"It made the Chinese water torture look like a walk in the park," replied Noa grumpily, standing up and limping somewhat to the tissue box. He proceeded to blow his nose upon arrival. "I'll never take running for granted again."

Seto felt a wave of relief hit him. The sarcastic, normal Noa was back.

"You do realize you have to go back to school, right?" asked Seto, watching Noa's reaction with a watchful eye.

Noa's face fell almost immediately.

"But this time, Noa," continued Seto calmly, "we're doing something a little different..."

* * *

An hour later, Noa had returned to the school, Seto acting as an escort.

The teachers were very surprised—and very relieved—to see that the young Kaiba brother had returned. They were also surprised at Seto's request to act as chaperone for the rest of the school day. Since it had been a half-day, everyone was leaving or getting ready to by the time the Kaiba brothers arrived.

Yugi was waiting by the lockers for his friends when Noa spotted him. A relieved look lit Yugi's features when he saw Noa. "Noa, you're back-again!" he cried happily, moving forward. "I got worried when you never showed up at class again. Jounouchi mentioned something about you leaving early."

The aqua haired Kaiba blinked in surprise. Had Jounouchi figured out what had happened between him and Honda? Outwardly, though, Noa gave a small smile.

"Yep. Round Two with this school thing," replied Noa easily.

Yugi suddenly saw who was behind Noa and gave a small gasp. "Kaiba, it's been awhile since we've seen you...what happened to you?" he asked, eyes traveling over the numerous bandages that Seto had.

The other boy shrugged carelessly. "Tell you guys all about it at the Turtle Game Shop," he replied calmly. "It has to do with Noa, by the way."

"Hey, look who's decided to grace us with His Almighty presence," came Jounouchi's voice as he rounded the corner and saw Seto. He was behind Yugi, leaning against the locker with his familiar, "I hate that rich boy!" glare firmly in place.

Anzu, Otogi and Ryou gathered around; Honda hung back, an unreadable expression on his face. For the moment, Noa was grateful that Honda was keeping his distance. He didn't feel like talking to him just yet.

"Hello, Mutt. How's life in the dog house?" replied Seto in a bored tone. Jounouchi flushed.

"Kaiba, for the love of heaven, _my name is Jounouchi_! You need to get that right!"

"Whatever you say, Fido."

"Dude, I'm not a freakin' dog!"

"Okay, Muttley."

Jounouchi nearly fell on his face. "Kaiba, for the last time...My. Name. Is. _Jounouchi_."

"I'll remember that, Fifi."

"THAT'S IT!" Jounouchi lunged at Seto, but Otogi sprang out of nowhere and restrained the angry blonde. "LEMME AT 'IM! I'LL RIP 'IM APART!" he shouted, straining against the chokehold Otogi had put on him.

Otogi replied, panting slightly as he held onto Jounouchi, "Jou, if you kill him we're gonna get sued!"

Seto smirked in amusement. "You need to be put in the pound, Mutt," he said coolly, watching in disinterest as Jounouchi slowly turned a deeper shade of red (whether it was due to exertion or anger Noa couldn't tell).

Someone tapped Noa on the shoulder and said his name quietly. When he turned to see who it was, he felt himself freeze.

Honda.

The taller boy looked somewhat uncomfortable as he watched Noa warily. What was he going to do? Noa raised a hand in greeting. "Hello, Honda," said Noa quietly, looking back up at him.

Behind him, Noa knew that Seto's attention was entirely on the two of them and was probably watching what was happening with a narrowed eye. Jounouchi had stopped struggling and all the others were watching (probably with baited breath) as well.

"Erm, well, about before. Noa...I'm sorry I said all that. I was wrong," he muttered, looking down. Noa felt something of relief rush through him. But Honda apparently wasn't done talking, because he looked at Noa and said simply, "If anyone was the stuck up brat around here, it was me."

Noa looked back at Honda and sighed softly. "...That's all right. I was expecting some sort of reaction like that from you guys anyway. In fact, Seto wasn't all too pleased when he found out I was alive too. But...well, you guys are free to like me or dislike me. Your choice. And it won't bother me a bit if you all hate my guts. It might bother Mokuba and maybe Seto, but not me."

A long silence fell as everyone let Noa's words sink in. What time was it now? Noa did not know, but it felt like years before anyone replied.

"Noa-kun, as I said before, if Kaiba-kun is willing to give you a chance...then so am I," stated Yugi resolutely, his eyes flashing.

After another pause, Jounouchi nodded and said, "Eh, I'm game. No problems here." He flashed Noa a thumbs up.

Anzu said promptly after Jounouchi, "We're all friends here, Noa. I think you changed for the better, and I am willing to give you a chance."

Ryou shyly said, "My name's Ryou, Noa. I have never met you and you have never met me. What say that I just go by how you act now and not how you acted whenever this happened?" he asked simply, brown eyes asking for confirmation.

Noa nodded, too surprised by the boy's answer to do anything else.

It was Otogi's turn next. "All right, even though you turned me into a birdbath, I'll give you a chance, 'kay?" Noa did not quite know what to make of that comment.

Seto cleared his throat. "Before we get all mushy and sentimental, let me kindly point out that it is now 1:30 and I do have a report to finish. Wrap it up," he said curtly.

Yugi nodded. "So Noa, do you want to go to the shop with us?" he asked.

Noa smiled and said, "Sure. That would be nice."

Noa heard Seto walk down the corridor and already knew that he was already heading back to work, satisfied that Noa was getting along with them. "Kaiba, are you coming? You said that your bandages had something to do with Noa and that you'd tell us about it!" called Yugi as Seto walked away.

The CEO turned and looked at Yugi. "Ask Noa. He was there when it happened. I, unlike you people, have a job that requires my attention so I need to go now. Noa, when you're ready to come home call my cell phone," he finished as he calmly walked away.

Jounouchi muttered something along the lines of, "Stupid rich boy!" and watched him with narrowed eyes until Seto had disappeared around the corner.

Noa smiled. _I owe you again, Seto._

Anzu smiled and said, "Well, we better get going. Your grandfather is probably wondering where you are, Yugi."

The small boy gave a laugh. "He probably is, Anzu. Let's go guys!"

Noa followed the others, and then stopped. Earlier, he had felt that something had been different about Yugi. Just now, he had figured out what had changed: Yugi no longer wore what he had called, "The Millennium Puzzle."

Yugi turned and spotted the look on Noa's face. "Noa?"

"Uh, Yugi...what happened to that pendant you used to wear? The pyramid looking thing?" asked Noa, wondering if someone had stolen it.

The other boy looked sadly down at where the 'Puzzle' had used to be and said quietly, "Let's just say that it's back where it belongs. I'll tell you about it later," he added with a laugh, noticing the confused look on Noa's face.

Noa laughed as well. He could wait to hear the story; he had all the time in the world to ask about what had happened while he was gone. Besides, he already knew that the others would tell him anything he wanted to know.

Noa suddenly shivered as he realized something.

For the first time in his whole life, he had friends.

"Hey, Noa, are ya comin' or are ya just gonna stand there and daydream all day?" called Jounouchi over his shoulder in an annoyed tone. Noa hesitated only for a moment.

"I'm coming!" he cried, hurrying forward so he could catch up with his newfound friends. It felt good to have a second chance; maybe with them school wouldn't be so bad.

...Okay, it would still be miserable, but hey, he had Yugi and crew. And he was sure that they were bound to make school life a lot more bearable and very entertaining.

* * *

Seto had not yet left, determined to see what was going to happen. When he had seen Noa following Yugi and his friends, he let out the breath he had been holding and said in an emotionless tone to the chauffeur, "Back to the office."

"Yes sir!"

As they drove away, Seto smiled at the receding figure of his brother and murmured, "Way to go, Noa."


End file.
